All In The Past (Snippet)
by the-fruit-that-writes
Summary: It's been 27 years since Ronnie Baker has seen her childhood crush. In that time they've grown up. Him into a successful comedian in L.A and her into a not so successful beat cop in New York. When a phone call from a forgotten friend brings them both back to their home town memories from their forgotten pasts emerge. A past full of friendship, and fear and love.
1. Chapter 1

_A random OC I've been playing with. I'm reading the book for IT right now so I'm extremely interested in doing a story, nothing is set in stone yet. I JUST REALLY WANTED TO WRITE REALLY BADLY! __Anyway, meet Veronica "Ronnie" Baker, half-sister to Henry Bowers and next-door neighbor to Bill Denbrough. _

_This takes place when Bower's attacks Mike in the Library in It Chapter 2._

"Hey!" Ronnie shouted, throwing a heavy book at the back of Henry's head. It hit him with a thud and his head bent forward before whipping around to look at her. He looked vile, his teeth yellow and bared, eyes wild. They followed her like she was prey. No, like she was a meal.

Her eyes widened. She hadn't seen her brother in 27 years, but she would never forget that look. It was the same look he had given her when he tried to kill her the first time.

"You looking for me?" She asked.

"Sissy," He sneered. Henry stood and took a step toward her, Ronnie mimicked him, taking a step back. _If I can just get him away from Mike. _She thought.

_Mike._

Ronnie's gaze shifted from Henry to Mike. He was flat out on his back on a pile of broken glass and wood. He hadn't moved since Henry had thrown him into that display case. _Please be okay._

Henry took another step forward bringing Ronnie's attention back to him. She took another step back, her hands stretched out behind her feeling for the edge of the bookshelf. She didn't want to take her eyes off Henry lest he gain the upper hand.

She hardened her gaze, steeling herself for what was to come. "Well," she spoke, a dry smirk forming on her lips. "Come and fucking get me."

She turned and ran.

She heard him more than anything else. Ronnie may have been pushing 40 but she was in the best shape of her life. Which is why it surprised her to hear her brother hot on her heels His laboured breathing and the loud footsteps of the out of shape man resonating within her, like a clock telling her that her time was up.

It was at this point that Ronnie really wished she had a plan.

Heading down a short set of stairs leading out of the main library, she saw that coming up on her right side was a darkened doorway. Praying it was an exit or at least a way to lose Henry she ducked in closing the door behind her. She grabbed whatever was closest and stacked it against the door hoping she could at least keep him out till she had a plan. Ronnie seemed to do that a lot. Hope.

She pushed the last cabinet into place then turned around to look at her surroundings.

"Fuck."

Through the light from the frosted glass panel on the door, she could see where she was, and she did not like it. Ronnie was in the back archives, a room filled with double-stacked filing cabinets, old desks, and loose papers. The room itself was a maze. A maze with only one fucking exit.

"Fuck."

She needed to think of a plan, any plan. _What would Stan do?_ She gripped her hair as she thought._ He always seemed to have a plan. _In her mental flurry, she turned, and her blood ran cold. A shadow had appeared on the frosted glass, a shadow of a man.

She dashed behind an aisle of filing cabinets before Henry could even touch the doorknob. From her spot on the far side of the room, she heard it. In dead silence, she heard the doorknob move and the door open.

Silently she cursed herself, she had forgotten that the door opened out instead of in. The only thing she had accomplished by stacking all the furniture was creating a small obstacle for him to push through. And that's just what he did. He kicked away every last piece of debris out of his way and stepped into the room.

Crouched on the floor at the far end of the room she could see the light pouring in from the hallway. It formed a perfect rectangle of light with a man-shaped shadow splayed on the back wall. Henry's shadow. Not as tall as he once was compared to her but still as intimidating. Ronnie figured he was more so now because of his thirst for blood. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. Now wasn't the time to lose her nerve.

Henry inhaled deeply through his nose. "I can smell you, Sissy."

Ronnie's hand flew to her mouth in an effort to keep herself from throwing up. Whether it was from disgust or fear she had no idea, probably a bit of both. Henry moved then, taking another step into the room. This one echoing. She had never heard anything so loud.

_I need to get out of here_. She took a few deep breaths through her nose before moving to her right. Moving away from the centre aisle that Henry was now walking down.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He sang. She shook her head. _Why does he have to be so creepy._

His footsteps stopped and so did she. She peered at him through the small cracks in between the double stacked cabinets.

He was looking around the room, his back to her. He stood so casually if she had met him on the street, she wouldn't have known he was a murderer. "I missed you, Sissy." He started. "There wasn't a day that went by in those 27 years that I didn't think about you." He turned as he spoke, and Ronnie ducked behind the cabinet again. She wasn't going to chance moving. In the dead quiet of this room, Ronnie would be heard, she had no doubts.

"I imagined what it would be like to hold you in my arms as I slowly choked the life out of you." She heard him shuffle so she peaked once more, he was facing the back wall. The light from the hallway casting an eerie glow on the escaped maniac. "I imagined what it would be like stabbing you, again and again, and when you lay there bleeding out," He sighed as if the idea was euphoric. "I'd do the same to you faggot boyfriend."

She gasped. "Richie."

It wasn't until she saw Henry slowly turn his head towards her that she realized she had said that out loud. She clapped a hand over her mouth and stood, backing up, the whole time keeping eye contact with the man on the other side of the cabinets.

"You can float too, Sissy." His eyes were wide and crazy, but his voice was quiet, not unlike how you would speak to a scared animal.

Well, Henry got one thing right. Ronnie was an animal, but she wasn't scared. She was vicious.

He took one more step toward her and she dashed forward pushing as hard as she could. Henry reacted too late and the heavy wall of double-stacked filing cabinets fell on him with a sickening crunch. Ronnie didn't want to wait around to see the aftermath and sprinted for the door.

She grabbed the handle of the door the second she was outside the room. Pivoting on her foot she moved to shove the door shut. Before it could fully close the arm of Henry Bowers slid through. He cried out in pain when the door was slammed onto his arm.

Fueled by adrenaline she pushed harder, yelling in unison with Henry's cry of pain. If she was lucky, his arms would fall off. But it turns out, that crazy is stronger than luck.

Henry planted his foot in the doorway and wormed his way further out the door. Slowly his head appeared, and Ronnie knew what had made that crunching sound.

Henry's nose had been flattened to his face and a thick red river ran from what was left of his nose. It flowed over his chin and down into the collar of his dirty blue shirt.

"You could never beat me." He taunted, a manic smile on his face. "Could never run faster than me."

He pushed himself out further, his chest coming into view. Her hands laid flat against the wood of the door as she pushed harder. He winced. He put his free hand on the door and pushed against it. When he spoke, his words came out in an airy rasp. "And now, you're going to get killed by me."

Ronnie groaned; she was running out of strength. She couldn't hold him back forever, not like this. And she couldn't brace the door with her back, if she got to close, he'd be able to grab her and get the upper hand. She needed help. She needed to run.

A sound of frustration formed in her throat. "Fuck you!" She yelled. Ronnie gave one last push before she turned and ran.

She hoped she would make it back to the entrance. Or at least to the stairs.

Ronnie made it three feet before she got tackled to the floor.

She hit the ground hard, landing on her chest, knocking the wind out of her. Henry shifted over her, in the landing he had loosened his grip and Ronnie took the opportunity. She lifted her leg and kicked him in the chest. Henry grunted and fell back.

As she struggled for breath, she dragged herself across the floor hoping to put more distance between her and her attacker. Ronnie needed to do something, she needed help. But, the only other person in the building was Mike and he was unconscious.

_Fuck. _

Ronnie opened her mouth to call for Mike when Henry grabbed her leg. He yanked her back to him, and Mike's name left her mouth in a scream.


	2. Chapter 2

p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Ronnie turned onto her back as Henry yanked her to him. Her hands flew out trying to hit him, trying to punch, but Henry took advantage of her disorientation and moved quickly. He straddled her and locked his thighs tight around her sides so she couldn't push away from him./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"She moved to punch the crater that was his nose when he wrapped his grubby fingers around her neck and squeezed. "Mike!" She cried again and Henry laughed. His laugh chilled her to the bone. It was the same laugh she'd heard after the cops arrested him. /p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""The cops were there to stop me the first time." He stated matter of fact. He smiled at the memory and the blood from his nose dripped into his teeth. "You won't be so lucky this time."/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"His free hand moved to the back of his jeans and she knew what he was reaching for before he had it in his hand. With wide eyes, she gasped for air. She reached up to his face, fingers taut, hoping to scratch him, hoping to hurt him enough to give her a chance. He squeezed harder in response and she moved the hand reaching for his face back to his wrist. She was not going to die. Not here. /p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"From his pocket, Henry pulled out the knife and in one swift motion flicked it open. He grinned at her. He was enjoying this, playing with his food. Henry raised the weapon above his head, poised. Coiled, like a snake waiting to strike. There was a beat and then the knife was flying downward towards her /br /"Help!"br /br /One hand flew out and caught Henry's wrists, his knife slicing down her wrist as she did so. She struggled with her divided strength. Half keeping herself from being choked and the other keeping her from being stabbed./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Ronnie gasped when Henry removed his hand from her throat to put more pressure on the knife. He wasn't going to choke her to death, he was going to stab her again and again and again with his knife. He always has an odd fascination with that knife. /p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"He leaned forward his chest pushing down on his hands. Ronnie's free hand moved to support the added weight of Henry but slowly even with the help of both her arms, Henry's blade moved closer to her throat./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Bill!"br /br /The knife inched closer and closer and she could see her fearful face in the reflection of the knife. Ronnie was getting weaker, she could feel it. She needed help. br /br /"Beverley!"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"**/spanbr /Richie had arrived at the library before anyone else. Well, he thought before anyone else, as the library itself looked /br /"Hello?" His voice echoed off the walls. No answer. He pursed his lips; he didn't expect that. Usually, he was the last one to get anywhere. He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. Casting one last look around the entrance hall he walked away and into the heart of the library./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Hello?" He called again. "Mike?" emMike would be here, /emRichie thought. emMike lives here./em/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"A groan sounded to his right and Richie jumped. Slowly he moved to it. Around the corner, half-conscious on a pile of broken wood and glass was Mike./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Holy shit." Richie gasped. He dashed to the injured man's side. "Mike!"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Mike didn't respond./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Richie placed one hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. "Come on man," Mike's eyes fluttered open and closed, he couldn't focus. Richie snapped his fingers in front of Mike's face and when he got no verbal response, he took Mike's face in his hand and moved it to face his own./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""What the hell happened, Mike?"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Mike's eyes rolled around his head, but he managed to mutter. "Ronnie… Bowers…"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Richie's eyebrows moved together in confusion. "Ronnie Bowers?" emI thought her last name was Baker./em/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Suddenly a shrill scream echoed through the library./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Mike!"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Mike shifted his body trying to get up, trying to respond. "Ronnie…"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Richie's head shot up in realization. "Bowers."em Bowers is here. Bowers has Ronnie./em/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Richie's blood ran cold. He had to move, he had to get to her. He looked around himself quickly. "I-I need a weapon, something, anything." He muttered. /p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Mike moved again trying to sit up, his arm outstretched, reaching, but Richie pushed him back down. "Don't. Stay." Richie said, frustrated. He looked away from Mike then glanced back. He followed the man's outstretched arm to his left. A few feet away from the two men lay an old axe. An axe Richie recognized from the display case he and Mike were currently on./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"emThat'll work./em/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Help!" Ronnie screamed./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Fuck!" Richie cursed./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Richie moved quickly and grabbed the axe in his right hand. "Ronnie!" He sprinted away from Mike, following the direction of Ronnie's scream. The weight of the axe was heavy in his hand, but he gripped it with determination. He wasn't going to let her down again./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"He turned a corner and for a second he thought he'd lost the trail, but she screamed again. /p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Bill!"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Ronnie! I'm coming!" Richie shouted back./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Bursting through a door he froze. He couldn't see Ronnie, for a second he thought he'd went the wrong way. There seemed to only be a dirty looking man kneeling in the middle of the room. But when he looked down and saw two legs peeking out from under the man. Two familiar legs, with a set of very familiar yellow boots he moved without thinking./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Beverly!"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Thwack!/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"**br /The next second Ronnie heard a disgusting, Thwack! Everything seemed to freeze. Henry's grip slacked, his legs loosened, and his face went blank. Then Ronnie's eyes flashed upward to Henry's forehead. A small drop of blood, she would have missed it if she wasn't this close, rolled down his forehead and to the end of what was left of his nose. She watched as it slowly moved through crevices till it fell and landed directly on her cheek. She didn't /br /Then, Henry fell to the side. She watched him, dumbstruck. It wasn't till he hit the ground beside her that she saw the axe buried in the back of his /br /The sound of puking brought her attention back in front of her. She sat up quickly, propping herself up on her uninjured hand shock written clearly on her face. "Richie?"br /br /Richie straightened out and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt. He was out of breath and looked just as surprised as she was. "Well, that was long overdue." Richie paused to laugh at himself. "Get it, cause we're in a library."/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Ronnie stared at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. She had no idea how to respond. She shifted her gaze from Richie to Henry. Henry wasn't moving. Two seconds ago, she was going to die, Henry was going to kill her, and then in came Richie Tozier, the last person she expected to save her./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Why didn't you call for me?" Richie asked and Ronnie's eyes snapped back to him. Before she could answer Richie bent over again and emptied what was left of his /br /Footsteps sounded from down the hall and 3 people ran into the room. Bill, then Ben then Beverly./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Beverley was the first to speak. "We saw Mike in the entrance hall-"/p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;""Are you okay?" Bill interrupted, the big brother in him coming out at seeing his best friend covered in blood. He ran to Ronnie's side and kneeled. He took her wrist in his hand and turned it gently. The cut ran from the top of her wrist to ¾'s down her forearm, it was bleeding badly./p  
p style="margin: 1em 0px 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"Ronnie opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted. "No, I'm not okay," Richie shouted. Bill and Ronnie both turn to him. He was up again, staring at the body of Henry Bowers. "I just fucking killed a guy!"br /br /"I was talking to, Ronnie."br /br /"Right."/p 


End file.
